I mean, that's a fair assessment. :)
In all honesty, thank you - your reply drew me up short, and I had to reflect a little on why that was. I was letting my expectations get the better of me. I have a personal rule about approaching art for what it is (as opposed to what I think it should be). I didn't follow that rule here. I'm not sure what happened. I may have been having an off day?
So really I'm left with, the story was very well written, and Shinsplint is a charming character to engage with.